Hormonal Foolishness
by BreadmachineLover
Summary: Gemma's heart just won't quiet after that kiss at the Gypsy camp and something unknown lurks in the forest, whispering for Gemma. Title is subject to change...as is the plot! PLEASE R&R!
1. Chapter 1

She moved swiftly amongst the trees, dodging a stray branch here and there. Gemma's heart pounded fiercely against her rib-cage, threatening to break free. Fear enveloped her like an ill-fitted corset, too tight and crushing. The moonlight reflected upon her wild eyes which darted behind her every so often, wary of any attackers who could suddenly ambush her.

"How could I have been so foolish," she chided herself. It had only been a few days since her incident with Kartik, yet she could not get him out of her mind. Forced or not, that kiss lingered upon her lips like a warm memory that refused to go away. That feeling that caused her heart to pound just a tad faster, her lips to curve into a slight smile, and her body ringing in a warm, tingly manner...she hated it. Gemma despised the torrent of emotions it brought on, none of which she could discern. What is it that she was feeling? She could not even fathom what it was-making her as confused as ever. She willed it to either explicate itself or leave, she couldn't handle all these dizzying emotions.

And thus she had left to confront Kartik and put her hormonal emotions to rest and finally get on with her life. Gemma would show him, she had planned, that she had absolutely no feelings for him-finally bringing everything back to normal. She lifted her fingers to her lips as if to feel any trace of his...No, she thought as she ran, he was a conceited fool! And now it was his fault and his effect on her that resulted in her running for her life in the overbearing forest, in which she was sure her screams would not be heard.

She had only entered the heart of the forest for the littlest of time when she heard the uncharacteristic hiss in the forest. "It's only some forest animal...only some forest animal," Gemma had squeakily reassured herself, quickening her pace with the quickening of her heartbeat. The leaves that littered the forest floor crunched under her boots as her strides grew longer and brisker. "It's gone-it's nothing, you silly girl," Gemma had laughed nervously to herself, willing herself to calm down. She was consoling herself just fine until she had heard that chilling hiss again...whispering her name.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood as if they had been electrocuted and her breath was cut short. "Gemmaaaaa..." the unknown predator had whispered...her name! Her legs were frozen for that long, agonizing moment. Her brain had screamed "Run!" and that was exactly what she did, ignoring all rational thoughts in her head.

And here she was know, the smartest girl ever, alone in the forest at the darkest time of night, running for life from whatever that chased her. "This is all Kartik's fault," Gemma seethed, if only she hadn't acted so rashly just because her feelings confused her.

"Kartik..."

And although she "hated" him, she wished more than ever that he would find her before the "creature" behind her did. She'd rather sacrifice her pride than her life...sounded rational enough.

Gemma spotted a clearing before her and her heart leapt at the site. "Yes! Perhaps I can fi-", but her thoughts were cut short when a cold, emaciated hand snaked around her wrist.

She screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

She screamed and kept on screaming as she turned to face her attacker. Gemma's eyes widened in sheer horror as she found her self looking upon the most terrifying creature she had ever encountered in her 16 years. The skeletal hand that had snaked around her wrist protruded from a body, if one could call it one, which had no definite shape but seemed to be compiled of thousands of different shadows. These shadows would stretch from the horrifying figure with moans emitting from shape-shifting faces. A sharp gasp escaped Gemma's throat as she struggled against the monster's grip. It had neither eyes nor a mouth, only a gaping hole atop its 8 feet of height…where it's sole arm came from, Gemma could not comprehend. She attempted to run but her legs wobbled precariously beneath her. It was as if the creature had sucked all energy from her and all she could do was freeze in fright before it. The hole began to shift in its shadowy form and screeched horribly in a voice that was indescribably inhuman and full of malice and wickedness.

"_Pretty one, we are coming. Pretty one, you shall be ours. Pretty one, the time is near. Pretty one, Pretty one…we have come!"_

And with that the wraithlike beast flew _through_ her, disappearing into the night and she was enveloped in a deep darkness.

Kartik's POV

The moon shone brightly in the star studded skies as Kartik made his way from his tent to the stream. The stream twinkled in the moonlight, reminding him of the endless depth of the eyes of a certain British girl. "Blast!" Kartik scowled to himself, he was somehow reminded of that _annoying pest_ with everything he encountered. Pest, he smirked to himself, which was definitely what she was. Stubborn as hell and an irking ability to get under his skin…in a bad way, of course-Miss Gemma Doyle.

Shaking his dark curls, Kartik bent down and cupped some of the crystal water in his mocha hands. The water glittered in his makeshift bowl as he placed it to his full lips, lips that _that girl_ had pressed her own to. It had sent a tingle down his spine as her warm lips had encountered his and Kartik found that he could not shake the unnerving feeling off. Brat. Yes, that was exactly the word that defined her…nothing else; she was just a pesky, annoying, _and_ bratty task that needed to be accomplished.

Kartik drained the water from his cupped hands and shook of his wet hands as he stood in the grassy bank of the stream. The droplets sprinkled across the peaceful stream, creating small disturbances in its clear, yet blue expanse. Disturbances, just like Miss Doyle.

As Kartik studied the fading ripples in the water, he heard a scream in the distance. A very familiar scream, he thought to himself, as he pumped his strong legs across the grassy floor. He entered the forest, which in the moonlight looked fearsome in an ominous glow. As he raced swiftly amongst the imperious trees, Kartik heard an odd sound echoing off the ancient trees. And then there was silence. His heart began to beat a bit faster in panic as he sprinted with more ardor. His probing eyes investigated the forest floor as he ran, tracking Gemma's path. His breathing became more labored from the endless running, when he reached a clearing towards the heart of the woods. The moonlight shined upon it like a beacon, illuminating a sole body splayed across the plentiful dirt.

Kartik's heart choked in his throat as he surveyed the scene. "She better not be dead," he panicked to himself. Not that it mattered to him…it was just that his brotherhood would be severely disappointed, that's it. He approached the body cautiously and found that it was indeed Gemma Doyle.

She lay in an odd angle, with her arms raised by her head, as if to protect her from whatever had frightened her. Her skirts ballooned around her and some stray leaves decorated her dress along with some dirt. However, it was not the way her body was arranged that alarmed Kartik, but her eyes. They were open, widened in horror and, startlingly, unseeing. The electrifying green pair stared upon a fixed point above her, yet seemed to see nothing. Her mouth was parted ever so slightly and Kartik found himself being more scared then he had ever been. Did she suffer a vision? What had caused her to be so?

He brushed away all his trouble thoughts and turned his attention towards more logical ones, he needed to get her out of the woods. He could not return her to Spence in such a state, Kartik thought systematically, so he must take her back to the camp. Still somewhat spooked, Kartik scooped the frozen Gemma into his arms and strode back to his tent-averting his eyes from her horror-struck ones. Her body hung limp, and her facial features frozen in fear. Kartik marched more rapidly and warily glanced over his shoulder every now and then as he traversed upon the forest path. It was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

Gemma had remained in her frozen state for ages and ages, it seemed to Kartik. He wrung out a wet cloth and placed it tenderly upon her brow. A mother, he felt like. Bitterly, Kartik wondered how he could even liken anything to a mother's mannerisms when he was stripped away from his own so long ago. Mothers. He had heard that they are the individuals who mold their children into what they are, and what they will be. They say that a mother's love is the greatest in the human existence, that it is what every child needs. Did that make Kartik a deprived, character-challenged man of humanity? Kartik let out a weak laugh and thought how the death of Amar probably exacerbated his sad existence…A small cough drew Kartik out of his thankless reverie and caused him to rapidly shift his position to Gemma's side

Her breathing seemed to have normalized and she shifted slightly in her sleep. Her eyes had finally sought refuge underneath the fragile skin of her lids, yet Kartik now wished for them to open, with a renewed vitality. His eyes traveled down the length of her face and found themselves attached to the sight of her warm lips that had issued the sound. He felt his hands travel almost automatically towards the full lips, as if to check if the warm sweetness still lingered. Snatching them back in half that moment, Kartik scolded himself for acting so ridiculous. Like he had a chance even if he did have an inkling of liking of _the girl_, he scoffed to himself. He was an Indian, a street urchin in her eyes and in the eyes of her uptight society. Not that he liked her; it was all just a hypothetical situation….he hurriedly reassured himself.

Gemma suddenly twisted the wooly brown blanket over herself and moved to her side. Finally! Kartik found himself being childishly happy; her movement meant that perhaps she was recovering. However, the happiness was short-lived. Her eyes suddenly snapped open in fear and her body suffered violent spasms. Kartik grabbed her slender shoulders and held her upward. She looked at him then those piercing eyes, and her perfect lips parted ever so slightly as if to-

"Aaaaauuu-"

Kartik clamped his hand over her shrieking mouth and roughly shakes her to wake her out of her frightened trance.

"Gemma! Gemma! It's Kartik! Shush!"

"Kar…Kart…" Gemma struggled with the words and the processing of his statement. Her eyes darted wildly within his deer skin tent and the bumpy ground in which she sat.

"The monster! He called me Pretty one! Oh, it was horrible; it had faces, so many faces! Kartik, it's coming for me. One it called me! The time…the time has come!! Kar-"

Kartik shook her softly and looked her in the eye.

"Gemma! Quiet. Refresh yourself first and then tell me the whole tale from the start."

She submissively shook her head and reached for his cracked water basin in the corner. Submissive. That was the most she was ever going to get, Kartik almost humorously though to himself. And it took some realms monster to bring her to this state…Kartik shook his head slightly and smirked to himself. Everything was returning to normal. Gemma was up and his panic was gone, he could go back to patronizing her now.

He leaned back against a wooden pole in the corner of his tent and mopped his face with the corner of his tunic, which he suddenly realized was soaked with perspiration. It must have been the heat, Kartik presumed, as a cool breeze drifted through the opening of his tent. The heat, of course the heat! Gemma finished washing her face in the corner and shivered slightly in the cool night air. She found herself garbed only in her thin nightgown and flushed slightly.

"Kartik, where is my cloak…?" Gemma asked warily.

"It's I folded it underneath your pillow…you were, um, sweating after I brought you here…I, er…detangled...you from it and put the blanket over you…um, sorry?" he answered somewhat clumsily.

An awkward silence befell them as Gemma hastily threw on her navy blue cloak, attempting to preserve modesty.

"So…um, how did I come here…to your bed-I mean tent?" She blushed furiously and rebuked herself for acting like a blushing damsel in distress.

"I found you in the woods, in state of shock. So I brought you here…" Kartik said abruptly, making an attempt to hide his self-conscious condition. He tried to fix the situation by doing what he always did, reproach her and her actions.

"What were you doing in the woods at that hour anyway? You were just calling for danger to-"

"Don't you dare reprimand me like a child! You, a mere boy of the Rakshana, think you have any authority? Ha! And-"

"Think what you want! I'm telling you, if you do not obey the commands of the Rakshana, there will be-"

"There will be what? Are you going to kill me? For all it's worth-"

A sudden snap of wood outside quieted them both. Kartik swiftly leapt outside and checked the perimeter…it was just one of the gypsy goats. He returned to the shelter and Gemma had stubbornly placed herself in the wooden beam opposite to that of Kartik's sitting place.

Kartik repositioned himself on the pole and found himself examining the wool blanket with great interest.

"Ahem."

He looked up and found Gemma scowling at him. He scowled back.


	4. Chapter 4

Gemma's POV

Gemma's POV

The scowling session had finally subsided and the atmosphere in the cramped, yet cozy tent began to settle. Gemma had finally calmed down enough to share her horrifying experience in woods, artfully excluding the exact reason why she was in the forest in the first place.

"But why were you in the woods anyway?"

She had failed. Gemma looked at him in preparation of constructing an elaborate, yet coherent lie and found herself, instead, mesmerized by the dark, lustrous lashes that framed those beautiful chocolate eyes which peered at her with impatient curiosity. Oh, those lashes, that face, that body…

"Gemma?"

Flustered, Gemma quickly responded. " Oh! I-uh…went to the forest because…because…I-uh-was…meeting…Felicity!"

"Felicity? What was she doing out here? How come I didn't see any of her tracks?" Kartik looked at her strangely, and seemed to be contemplating her response.

Oh bloody hell.

"Well…I guess she didn't turn up…something must've happened…" Gemma finished lamely.

"Why didn't you two just meet at the school, or at least leave together? What has gotten into you Gemma, do you know how dangerous-"

"Oh, please! We had our reasons, stop prying!" Gemma snapped back, adding a glare for the overall effect. She would _never_ allow Kartik to grasp the true reason of her sudden departure from Spence; it all seemed too childish and immature to bring up. What a fool she acted like at times…"Anyway, let's focus on the _main_ problem, the creature from the realms". Gemma shuddered, in spite of herself, the monster seemed to conjure up in her mind at the very instant she mentioned it, to the last minute detail.

Slight confusion took over Kartik's face at the sudden change of subject, and Gemma though it was a nice change from his usual domineering stance. _A nice change_, nothing personal. It's just something that one would notice on anyone, even a stranger! Gemma almost went shrilly inside her head, furiously attempting to justify her accurate observation. She was just a natural reader of people, of course…ahem. For God's sake, the boy had reduced her to arguing with herself! Silly, Stupid, Idiotic, Foolish-

"Well, perhaps Circe sent it. As a warning, maybe you shouldn't enter the realms anymore. It could all be a trap."

"My mother is in the realms and I will not end my visits as long as she remains there," Gemma replied heatedly.

"How do you know it's a trap anyway? The real question is if that creature was truly from the realms-how did it manage to come into my world?"

"Has that ever happened before? Is it possible," Kartik inquired, a new worry creasing his already furrowed brow.

"Not that I-wait, yes. Circe…and my mother…Amar…"

Gemma fell quiet for a minute and Kartik joined in the silence. It was Circe who had sent the horrendous monster after her mother, and it had succeeded in both taking her mother's life as well as Amar's. How could she have forgotten? Suddenly, all the silly, awkward thoughts about Kartik that Gemma had been so occupied with in the last hour or so vanished, replaced with an irrevocable fear. The comparison of this new shadow creature with that of Circe's hunter had abruptly added a whole new level of peril and threat, a notion that both Kartik and Gemma were now fully aware of.

Faint light was beginning to illuminate the tent and seemed that dawn was approaching. The light crept through the flap of the tent as fear crept through both of their hearts, creating another unnecessary, unwanted bond between them. Death. Fear. Why couldn't it be friendship?

"We should get you back to Spence, else someone will notice your absence." Kartik suddenly spoke.

"I can go myself, thank you…I shall speak with you more about this matter, tomorrow?"

Kartik simply nodded and Gemma exited the tent into the awakening wilderness. She had asked to speak to him more, essentially asked him for help. That was a first. Maybe it was the metallic taste of dread within her mouth that prompted this new behavior…perhaps. The leaves were bright green, a sign of vitality-something Gemma wished for more of. As she examined the vivid array of colors that decorated the woods, she though she saw the flutter of a dark cloak streak through the woods. Kartik. The sodden earth sank beneath her heels as she marched forward; it had rained sometime during the night. Rain. It had washed away some of the pebbles that had littered the stream bank; the bank was clean and uncluttered, it seemed. Gemma wished that there was a certain rain that could wash away the unsolicited pebbles of fear that littered her heart, mind, and soul…her entirety.


End file.
